Graduate Student Research Assistantship Program

GSRA Program

The Graduate Student Research Assistantship (GSRA) program at the University of Michigan-Flint is a vehicle to provide financial support for the academically-related research activities of active UM-Flint graduate students. A GSRA is an appointment which may be provided to a student in good standing in a UM-Flint graduate degree program who assists UM-Flint faculty performing research that is relevant to his or her academic goals or who performs personal research (including thesis preparation). Appointments to the GSRA program at UM-Flint are made for one or two semesters/terms and are contingent upon the recommendation of the faculty member of the sponsoring in an academic department and the approval of the Dean of Graduate Programs. You can read the complete guidelines.

The Office of Graduate Programs has offered funding for GSRAs since Fall 2006. Dozens of UM-Flint faculty members and graduate students have benefited from this program.

Faculty Requests for GSRAs 2017-18

UM-Flint faculty can request funding for GSRA positions through the Associate Provost and Dean of Graduate Programs. GSRAs are generally appointed at 10-15% effort per semester, which translates to an availability of one or two semesters for 4-6 hours per week.

By completing this requisition, you are indicating that you need assistance from a graduate student in performing research or creative endeavors as a University of Michigan-Flint faculty member in the 2017-2018 academic year. Faculty can submit multiple requests for GSRAs or indicate they need more than one student for the same position. Please note that current funding for this program may not allow the Office of Graduate Programs to offer or fill every position requested. Staff at UM-Flint may apply for GSRA positions, but preference will be given to full-time faculty members if there are more requests than funds available for positions.

Faculty may identify a graduate student as a “candidate in mind” for the position if desired. The position will still be posted and other students may apply, but the candidate in mind will be appointed provided they apply through Human Resources, accept the appointment, and meet the minimum criteria. Students will apply for the position online through Human Resources beginning April 10; deadline to apply is June 1. Following the application period, the supervising faculty member will be sent applications, resumes, and cover letters of all students that apply. The faculty member will rank the acceptable candidates in order of preference. If the top candidate is not available, the next candidate will be appointed.

If your position is approved and funded, please note that you will be responsible for supervision of the graduate student’s work as a GSRA and must provide periodic reports to the Office of Graduate Programs. Students are not required to submit timesheets, but individual faculty members may choose to monitor their time in whatever way they deem necessary to ensure assigned work is completed in a timely manner.

A GSRA with questions or concerns about any aspect of his or her appointment will be encouraged to raise the concerns with the faculty supervisor first. If unable to resolve, the faculty member or student may bring the matter to the attention of the Office of Graduate Programs (810-762-3171), University Human Resources (810-762-3150), or Academic HR Services Office (734-763-8938) who can advise and assist students and departments in the resolution of non-academic issues which may arise relating to the terms and conditions of GSRA appointments.

2017-18 Online Request Form

Go to the online GSRA Request System and click Faculty Login on the top right of the web page. You will be prompted to login with your uniqname and LAN password. If you submitted a GSRA position to the Graduate Programs in 2014 or later, then your profile has already been created. If you are new to submitting GSRA requests, you will be prompted to create a profile. The profile information will be publicly displayed alongside your GSRA position, if it were to be approved.

Once your profile has been created, you will be able to start submitting requests. They will not be submitted to the Graduate Programs for review until you check the Mark for Submission checkbox on the bottom of the request page. If you experience difficulties with the system, please feel free to contact Thomas Stockwell at thstockw@umflint.edu.